For the Grandparents and Great Grandparents

What do you give them for Christmas? Pictures of the kids of course! How cute is it to get all the cousins together for one group shot? Luckily it wasn't that hard to get them all looking happy.



Here's my side.....




And here's Rob's side....

Drew Church Christmas Pageant

Sunday was a big day! Melody was in her first Xmas Pageant at church. She had to learn a song and sing it with all the other kids. She actually did real well and learned the words quickly. We were not sure how she would like having to go up front with her drum and sing it to everyone but she seemed to enjoy it.

There's a hole in the bucket....

Have I mentioned how much I LOVE my new wood stove? As it gets colder and colder outside, it just gets warmer and warmer for us inside. We had a fireplace insert put in our never used fireplace so that we could "assist" our heating budget this year. Let me just tell you how great it is to be 75* inside in the middle of winter! And not really us our heat! Granted, there is some smell of smoke, and we notice when we go to others houses we can smell a hint of a campfire, but I'll take it for the warmth it gives.
With that, there is some maintenance. The never ending ash that scatters in front of the fireplace as well as inside. So, every couple of days we need to empty it out and clean it all up. Rob has on his Christmas list to get a metal ash holder bucket type thing. But, in the meantime, we have been using a regular old bucket. We put some water in the bottom of it, put the ash in after the stove hasn't been burning for a while, and then outside in the yard. Not a great solution, but a temporary fix.
There was one morning when I was emptying out the fireplace I noticed a spot in the middle of the fireplace that still had some red embers. So, being the fire conscious woman that I am, I left that spot in the fire, and put the rest of the ash (that I had mixed around and found no red spots), in the bucket and outside. I get the new fire going, warm as can be. A few hours later, Melly and I have to run out to the store. So I leave the house, and actually say out loud, "I wonder why it smells like burning plastic out here?" I look at my Sanford & Son ash bucket in the yard and see a big hole in the bottom, with ash pouring out, and smoke coming out. OOPS!!!
So realizing the hose has been turned off, I grab the only other thing I can think of... my watering can! I fill it up with water, and pour it on the ash pile. Only to find out that when you pour water on ash, it sizzles, smokes more, and blows more ash all over the place. So 3 trips to the kitchen sink, and a few gallons of water later, the smoke and sizzle have stopped. The whole bottom of my bucket is completely melted, Melly and I are covered in grey ash dust, and all I can say to Melly is, "Daddy's going to be so mad at me!"
I'm not cleaning out the fireplace again until after Christmas in a metal bucket!

The true meaning of Christmas

Not every day are we able to make a difference in someones life. Today was my day. I ran around doing 5 billion errands this morning, including a really nice "lunch date" with Melody. She was overly cooperative and happy all day, so I took advantage of it and kept dragging the poor kid to the stores. I was debating whether to go home, or hit the grocery store as one last stop. I asked Melly if she was up for it, and she said yes. So, off we go and do our shopping.
I'm leaving the store and I see the Salvation Army guy ringing the bell. I give Melody a couple of quarters and felt good about contributing. "A good lesson I'm teaching her" I thought all proud. So I get to the car, put her in, and start adding the groceries.
At this point, I see a man looking at a piece of paper, looking around the streets, and kind of wandering around the parking lot some. He comes up to me and asks if I know where Catholic Charities is located. Sadly, I didn't know. I guess it was something he saw in my face, or fate, or this guy was getting his one streak of luck that he picked me to ask, because he looked in my eyes and burst into tears. In this sad world, you never know who is taking advantage, who is pulling a scheme, or who is out to hurt you. Here is his sad story and think about what you would do if you were in my shoes.
He lives in Florida and had to come up for his fathers funeral with his 3 month old son. He has no other family up here and his money is gone. He was only planning on being here for a few days, which turned into 2 weeks due to legal paperwork with his fathers affairs. He didn't have any more money for gas, food, or more importantly his son. He had a list of charitable organizations that are designed to help people, yet each one he went to closed the door in his face. Each one sent him to another organization because he didn't qualify. WIC is only for mothers, Danbury Hospital can only give him one small bottle of formula per day. The Salvation Army is only for Danbury residents, YMCA didn't have anything they could do for him, the fire department referred him to Catholic Charities, which have moved buildings and the sign on the door did not say to where. I remember being in the Human Service field long ago, this problem came about often. Some families needed help, but they didn't qualify the right way and the money could only be spent a certain way. The only thing he asked me is if I could help him buy a container of formula for his son. So I did.
Now, looking back I have more questions, like who was watching his son, and couldn't he have asked a neighbor for help, and all these different scenarios. All the skeptics that are reading are probably saying this guys was full of it. But then I think about if I was in a strange town, didn't know anyone, what would I do? Not everyone has the same abilities to deal with adverse situations. Also, what harm can be done with a can of formula? I don't believe it can be melted down into drugs, nor can it be sold on the black market for something else. And, if you could have seen this grown man burst into tears as he's crying over his fathers death, and what he was going to do, it just broke my heart and it felt right to help him.
I then told Melly in the car, that was what it's all about. Helping people when they need it

Not a good way to start the morning...

I was just getting out of the shower when I hear the phone ring. I have a problem of not being able to just let the phone ring... I have to answer it. So I make the mad dash from shower to phone. As I'm dashing, I hear Melly yelling at the top of her lungs, "Wow, Mommy! You have a big, BIG tushy!" Aww, come on Melly... wouldn't one big have been enough? I decided not to answer the phone, because I was afraid who would be on the other end hearing my daughter yelling about her Momma's tushy!

We caught a tree

We went to get our tree today. Nothing big, no grand plan, just go to the section marked $19.99 and pick the one that seems to be the most straight. The tree we happened to pick was already wrapped up in the netting to take home. We ask Melody if this tree was good to take home and she says, "Yes. It's caught in a net".

We have in the past gone to hunt down and cut our tree, or to find the "really nice = expensive" tree, and have never found any one to be much better. So, we put up the cheap tree, decorate it with all of our family ornaments, and 'ooh and ahhh' about it with the lights off. Melody looked at it and just plainly says, "Mommy, it's so pretty".

Christmas is in the air at the Jackson house! Although, with the stove on, the house was 78 degrees, so it really didn't feel too much like it!

Congratulations Claire!

I want to give a shout out to my niece Claire (11), that, with her Southern Dutchess Packers Cheerleading Team, have placed 3rd in the National Championship! Way to go! To place 3rd among God only knows how many teams across the country is an amazing accomplishment! If she can do this at 11, think of what she can do at 20!